1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to interactive control systems. More particularly, and not by way of limitation, the present invention is directed to a system and method for controlling food preparation in a kitchen utilizing a visual representation of a cooking surface.
2. Description of Related Art
Current systems for controlling food preparation in restaurants are “ticket-based” systems. When a food server enters an order for a given table into a restaurant computer system, the system displays a ticket on a monitor in the kitchen. The displayed ticket contains the complete food order for the table. The order may contain a variety of food items, each of which may be cooked on a different cooking apparatus, such as a grill top, a deep fat fryer, an oven, a stove top, and the like. In addition, each of the food items may have different cooking times. Even for food items cooked on the same apparatus, the cooking time may vary due to the type of food being prepared (e.g., steak, chicken, fish, etc.), the thickness of each particular food item, the cooking temperature, and the degree of doneness desired by the customer.
When utilizing such ticket-based systems, the cook must determine when to place each item on its respective cooking apparatus so that the preparation of all of the items for one table is completed at the same time. This task is further complicated by the fact that the cook is simultaneously handling multiple orders for multiple tables. Good cooks are difficult to find, and are the most expensive employees that the restaurant owner must hire.
In order to overcome the disadvantage of existing solutions, it would be advantageous to have a system and method for controlling food preparation in a restaurant kitchen that precisely identifies each food item on a particular cooking apparatus, and notifies the cook when to start each item, and when each item is done. The present invention provides such a system and method.